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Puget Sound Condition Upgraded
But Health Concerns Remain

Mary Getchell
Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team
mgetchell@psat.wa.gov

Better water quality and healthier marine animals are among the factors that signal improvement in the health of Washington State's Puget Sound. Unfortunately, other indicators warn of concerns for the overall health of the Puget Sound ecosystem, according to a recent report from the Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team. The Action Team recently issued its third biennial report, Puget Sound's Health 2002, a culmination of information from several state and federal government organizations.

Puget Sound's Health 2002 distills 2,800 square miles of inland marine waters, 2,500 miles of Puget Sound shoreline, 200 species of fish, 26 kinds of marine mammals, 100 species of sea birds and thousands of species of marine invertebrates into 19 ecosystem health indicators. Eight of the 19 indicators show Puget Sound's health is getting better; two indicators show the Sound's health is getting worse; three are mixed; four document continued concerns about persistent toxic contamination problems; and two are new indicators about nearshore habitats.

"The good news is that we continue to make progress in protecting habitat and keeping contaminants and pollution out of the Sound in the first place," said Scott Redman, acting chair for the Action Team. "The bad news is that habitat lost and degraded over time and contamination that has been in the Sound for years continue to threaten marine life including birds, fish and shellfish."

Positive Indicators
Improvements for Puget Sound include the following:
Commercial shellfish. Shellfish growing areas showed a small improvement. That's good news for the industry that's been facing downturns in recent decades.
Fecal coliform bacteria are the indicator of concern in shellfish areas.
The Washington Department of Health upgraded more shellfish growing areas between 2000-2001, then the agency downgraded. It downgraded 849 acres and upgraded 1,540 acres, which resulted in a net upgrade of 691 acres of shellfish growing areas. As of 2001, out of 140,000 acres of commercial shellfish areas, growers could harvest on approximately 110,000 acres.
Coho salmon populations. Coho salmon appear to be returning to Puget Sound at small, but increased, numbers in 2000 and 2001, compared with returns in the late 1990s.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the survival rate of wild coho returning to Puget Sound dropped dramatically. On average in the Big Beef Creek on Hood Canal, Deschutes River, and South Fork of the Skykomish, in 1980, 23% of coho salmon returned to Puget Sound. By 1999, only 3% returned. However, in 2000, on average, 7% returned.
Aquatic nuisance species. Spartina or cord grass, which is not native to Washington's waterways, has infested areas primarily in northern and central Puget Sound. Between 1999 and 2001, the Washington Department of Agriculture and its partners reduced Spartina infestations throughout the Sound, except in Snohomish County.
In 1999, Snohomish County had 480 known acres of Spartina. By 2001 the infested area expanded to 500 acres. During the same time period, Spartina acreage decreased from 50 to 40 acres in Skagit County, and from 350 to 250 acres in Island County.
Green crab and mitten crab are aquatic nuisance species that are of a grave concern to Puget Sound scientists. To date, none have been observed in Puget Sound. The green crab feeds on shellfish as well as other marine organisms and could potentially threaten Dungeness crab, clam and oyster fisheries. The mitten crab eats salmon and trout eggs and may threaten successful spawning.
Water temperature. Temperatures have declined at 5 of the 20 long-term monitoring locations on rivers and streams in the Puget Sound region, which is good news for salmon that need cool water.

Two Steps Backward
Two indicators show a decline in the health of the Sound.
Scoter populations. A number of marine bird species have declined by 50% or more in the past 20 years. In Puget Sound, scoter populations are down by 57% in the past 20 years. During the same period, 13 out of 18 other marine diving birds in Puget Sound, have declined in numbers, including scaup (72%), long-tailed duck (91%), and marbled murrelets (96%). Meanwhile, harlequin ducks have increased by nearly 190% in the past two decades.
Rockfish populations. Rockfish are declining at an alarming rate. In 1978, the spawning potential for rockfish was 100%, by 2000; it is down to 7% in South Puget Sound and 12% in North Puget Sound. Over-harvesting may be the primary driver in the decline of rockfish. Contamination of their food sources, and removal and reduction of their habitat from trawling, diving and other activities may also be harming the future of rockfish. Scientists believe that rockfish decline, along with the decline of many other marine fish species, may point to significant problems with the entire Puget Sound ecosystem.

The Action Team's Pete Dowty and Scott Redman wrote Puget Sound's Health 2002 with contributions from several Washington state agencies, a federal agency, Canadian government agency, and Washington State-Canadian work group.

For a copy of Puget Sound's Health 2002 visit the Action Team's web site at www.wa.gov/puget _sound or call (800) 54-SOUND (in Washington state) or (360) 407-7311 (out of Washington state).

The following indicators were used in Puget Sound's Health 2002. The indicators show results as compared with the 2000 health report.